Good day Exer’s!!
I hope this day finds you happily smoke free!! Remember back when we first thought of quitting. Do you remember any of those thoughts when that moment arrived? I know I do. I remember first a kind of disbelief. My mind actually couldn’t wrap itself around the thought of living life without cigarettes. The thought just seemed so foreign to me. It was as if quitting was a concept that I couldn’t grasp, like trying to understand an impossible physics theory.
Next came the realization with myself that I was serious and this realization actually carried a physical reaction with it. I was shaking and had sweaty palms. My head started pounding. I realized that I was terrified at the concept of quitting.
This was the first of many awakenings that I had and I wondered about this. Why was my mind rebelling against something that is obviously so good for the body? This was the first time I realized that I wasn’t kicking a "habit". No, I was preparing to end an addiction. A very powerful addiction. I realized that if I was going to succeed that I’d better get some help.
I dialed the quit line in our state and almost hung up before a counselor answered. I set myself up for nicotine patches and went to their web site where among other things I discovered this particular web site. As so many of you know or are discovering, there is a wealth of experience and knowledge here for the taking and it’s a great place for the exact kind of encouragement that we need.
Now, back to what I was discussing. When I looked at all of these things that were happening to me before I quit, I realized that I was gaining some insight into what it will be like when I actually did quit. And from that little bit of soul searching I realized that I’d better be taking this new idea of mine seriously.
This was when I began using visualization as a tool. I simply started imagining my life without cigarettes. At first this exercise was hard but as time progressed it got easier to do. What I think I was doing was allowing my mind to wrap itself around what I was about to do since for some reason my mind couldn’t picture me as a nonsmoker.
This also taught me just how addicted I really was. Of course this realization made me all the more ready to fight. It made me all the more ready to take my life back. It gave me the resolve to actually take that first step and knowingly put out that last cigarette without fear for you see, in the course of a few months I lost my fear of quitting and was really ready to experience that new life smoke free. Also I was ready to deal with the discomfort that I knew was coming.
Thing is, from the moment that I decided to quit, I’ve always kept my eye on the prize of freedom. I’ve always looked to the future knowing in my heart that what I do today will determine what my future will look like tomorrow.
Sometimes it’s a hard thing for us humans to knowingly create an uncomfortable situation in the present. But rather then look at that, try to focus on that wonderful future that is just around the corner. It may seem like it’s a long way off but really it isn’t. And the first day that you put out that last cigarette is really not a day of sorrow. No, it’s a day of celebration!
It’s the day that you tell yourself that you WILL take your life back. So if you haven’t already, take that first step into the unknown life of freedom. Take that first step into your future. Take that first step to a longer and happier life free of the self imposed enslavement of addiction and you know what? You just have to get through the first few days and then you can really start to relearn your life without cigarettes. You really start to understand freedom. You really start to understand the realities that were hidden from you. At last you understand why you decided to do this in the first place!
ONWARD TO FREEDOM!!
Chuck
